NEXT;MONTH
… in November’s Scotsman Guide
• Other uses for clients’ tax
returns
• Oklahoma City’s housing market:
Just OK?
• How to market yourself in tough
times
• 6 steps to building borrower
rapport
… and much more.
Online? Check out current and past editions of
Scotsman Guide at scotsmanguide.com.
TIP;OF;THE;MONTH
Segment your time
Marketing and customer service are
important aspects of business success, and each has its foundation in
time management. Increase your productivity by breaking your day into segments. For example, dedicate morning
hours to catching up and taking care
of any unexpected chaos while setting
aside time each afternoon for meeting
with clients. Return calls and e-mails
at specific times each day. Taking control of your time will allow you to run
your business more effectively.
—;RICHARD;P.;HIMMER,
HARBOR;TECH;MORTGAGE;INC.
In the Past Month
NEWS;FROM;THE;INDUSTRY;AND;ABROAD
New-, existing- and pending home
sales post monthly gains in July
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sales of new and existing homes
increased bet ween this past June and July, as did pending U.S.-home sales, according to various sources.
New-home sales surged in July, jumping 9. 6 percent
over June, the U.S. Commerce Department reported.
While sales volume still was 13.4-percent below July
2008’s levels, it marked an abrupt shift in recent patterns. Analysts viewed it as another indication that the
housing market was inching toward a recovery.
Meanwhile, sales of existing U.S. homes increased for
the fourth-consecutive month in July, the National Association of Realtors said. Sales were 5-percent greater
than in July 2008, the association said.
Pending sales also showed a gain for the sixth-con-secutive month in July, the association reported. The
Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed
in the month, increased from 94.6 in June to 97.6 in
July, up 12 percent from July 2008.
next;release:
Pending home sales: Oct. 1
Existing-home sales: Oct. 23
New-home sales: Oct. 28
Bernanke reappointed, suggests
economy will ‘level out’ soon
OAK BLUFFS, Mass. — President Barack Obama announced the appointment of Federal Reserve Chairman
Ben Bernanke to a second four-year term.
“Ben approached a financial system on the verge of
collapse with calm and wisdom, with bold action and
out-of-the-box thinking that has helped put the brakes
on our economic freefall,” Obama said.
On Aug. 21, Bernanke told assembled bankers and
policymakers in Wyoming to expect the U.S. economy
to grow soon.
“Fears of financial collapse have receded substantially,” Bernanke said at the Fed’s annual retreat in
Jackson, Wyo. “After contracting sharply over the past
year, economic activity appears to be leveling out.”
next;release:
Fed meeting: Nov. 3
U.S. bank failures triple
between this year and 2008
NE W YORK — The number of U.S. banks shut between
this past Jan. 1 and Sept. 1 is triple the number that
failed in 2008, government regulators said.
Most of the banks that failed this year are small, regional banks that fell victim to losses on real estate and
consumer loans when unemployment surged to a 25-
year high. But many large institutions closed in 2009,
a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) spokesman
said. Closures on Aug. 28 alone cost the FDIC about
$446 million, CNN reported.
Group: States left $3 billion
in stimulus funds on the table
WASHINGTON, D.C. — About 350,000 U. S. citizens are
losing out on $3 billion in unemployment benefits because their states are not taking action, an advocacy
group said.
The National Employment Law Project said the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act includes $7 billion in expanded unemployment benefits for states
that make changes, such as decreasing the length of
employment that qualifies an unemployed worker for
benefits.
If the states made the adjustments, some unemployed
part-time workers would qualify for assistance, USA Today
reported. Twenty-three states have failed to adjust.
